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2000s, National Voter Archive, Shirley Tabata Ponomareff

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by Shirley Tabata Ponomareff and Jeanette Senecal
In 2004, 2000 and 1996, 27.9 percent, 30.5 percent and 29.1 percent of eligible voters were not registered to vote. If these eligible voters were registered to vote, would they turn out to vote at the 80–90 percent rate at which registered voters did go to the polls in the past three presidential elections? They probably would. This means 44–49 million more people would have voted in 2004. Let’s get them registered in 2008! This article contains tips for organizing League-sponsored voter registration drives.

by Shirley Tabata Ponomareff
In 1942, national League President Marguerite Wells cautioned that in times of crisis such as war, “the citizen loses sight of government and what government is doing, who is doing it, how it is being done.” She summed up the League’s objective in that wartime period: the support of democracy. Today, as our country wages a war against terrorism, the League continues in this proud tradition. From the time that the USA PATRIOT Act became law in 2001, the League has actively lobbied in support of legislation that would limit some of the law’s extreme provisions. At the same time, it has promoted education through panels and workshops as well as its “Local Voices” project.

by Shirley Tabata Ponomareff
Long lines and long waits were the big news for Election 2004. A number of factors are being examined as likely causes for the long lines. Whatever the causes, the long waits posed an unacceptable barrier to citizen participation. Voter mobilization and voter protection made huge contributions, and voter participation was high. Nevertheless, voters encountered serious problems with voter registration systems, provisional ballots, voting machines and inadequate polling place procedures. This story includes sidebars on the youth vote, election protection efforts, pre-election HAVA implementation survey and Election Day surveys.